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Rotary Club of Albuquerque was chartered on June 24, 1916 as club number
242 of Rotary International ("RI"). Thirty-one charter members embraced
the Rotary International motto of Service Above Self. Commitment
to this principle remains the foundation of our club, now with a
membership of over 340 community leaders.
The
Rotary Club of Albuquerque has come a long way since its inception in
1916, yet it has retained the same fundamental organization and
philosophy through the years. Our Club has served as a meeting place for
the exchange of ideas and experiences of many people, members and
visitors alike. The service ethic that Paul Harris enunciated in 1905
remains characteristic of Rotary, and community service projects
continue to provide a central theme for our Club's activities. Helping
to make the world a better place in which to live is a tall order, but
our Rotary Club has certainly contributed greatly to the maturation of
the city and region.
Among
the first efforts of the Albuquerque Club was "boosting" the climate and
health facilities of the city, at a time when tuberculosis sanatoria
were a leading industry. Rotarians promoted and supported good roads for
Albuquerque when it became apparent that the automobile was key to
future growth, especially of Western cities. The Club helped direct
attention to the recurring problem of flooding from the Rio Grande, and
generated local support for the institution of the Middle Rio Grande
Conservancy District, which continues to deal with a variety of critical
water issues. |
Over
the years the Club has strongly supported the efforts of youth groups,
such as the Boy Scouts and the YMCA, that work to build better citizens.
Many university students, from many nations, have benefited from the
Rotary Club's commitment to higher education as a means of
self-improvement and a vehicle to foster better international relations.
Rotary
has played an important role too in the expansion of cultural life in
Albuquerque. It launched the Symphony Orchestra that has delighted and
inspired audiences for over a half-century, and it has helped sustain
the Albuquerque Little Theater nearly as long. In more recent years, our
Club has given solid support to museums in Albuquerque and the city's
biological park.
Over
the past 85 years, our Club has demonstrated the flexibility to adapt to
a changing world without losing site of its reason for being. This is
because the fundamental objects of Rotary are every bit as applicable
today as they were in 1905. Service projects for the for the betterment
of the community remain a vital component of Rotary. The Rotary Club of
Albuquerque will continue to play a leading role in helping to solve
problems and improve the community, as it nears the completion of its
first century of service in Albuquerque. The moral and ethical
foundations of Rotary are timeless, and will doubtless continue to
inspire our members with a sense of civic virtue for many years to come.
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